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You could describe 2007 in many ways, but staid and boring would certainly not be among them. From interest rate hikes to credit crunches and failing banks it's certainly been a dramatic year, and one, in many ways, that is best put well and truly behind us. With 2008 knocking on the door, MoneyExpert.com rounds up the highs and lows of the year just past.

With New Year fast approaching talk at the Christmas dinner table will no doubt turn to 2008 and the resolutions we intend to make. Along with the usual ideas about joining the gym and learning a new language you might want to add sorting your finances to the list. Unlike turning yourself into Rocky Balboa or picking up Mandarin, sorting your finances can be done relatively easily with just a couple of hours of thought.

Ok so it might be a bit late to hop over to America for some Christmas shopping, but with experts predicting high street sales will continue long into January, there’s still plenty of time to catch a bit of retail therapy in the Big Apple – or closer to home if you can’t splash out on the air fare.

Babies born this Christmas Day may not be bestowed with gold, frankincense and myrrh but they will receive £250 courtesy of the Government’s Child Trust Fund (CTF) scheme. In addition to the Government’s gifts, overall the nation’s children are expected to receive £2.4 billion this year from generous family and friends.

Equity release schemes have experienced something of a boom in recent years as more and more people see the advantages in raising some much-needed capital through their property.
To make sure equity release is right for you MoneyExpert will help explain the process and steer you towards the right deal.

With the weather turning distinctly seasonal over the last few days it’s hard to avoid the sense of imminent Christmas cheer. But as the mercury continues to plummet, our bank balances may be heading the same way.

Burglary at Christmas is an unfortunately common occurrence; when the holidays come around many of us take the opportunity to travel and see our family and friends. We leave our houses empty at a time when they are full of just the sorts of expensive items that would appeal to opportunistic thieves.

With the weather turning distinctly seasonal over the last few days it’s hard to avoid the sense of imminent Christmas cheer. But as the mercury continues to plummet, so too, it seems, do our bank balances.

Last week saw mortgage holders breathe a collective sigh of relief as the Bank of England dropped the base rate from 5.75% to 5.5%. This decision will make monthly outgoings on the mortgage that bit more affordable.

Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes was more of a Lewis Hamilton than Inspector Lewis when he was caught doing 90mph in a 60mph zone. MoneyExpert.com races through the issues that you're likely to face if you end up on the wrong side of the road and the law...

Now that the Christmas season is well and truly upon us the demands on our finances are starting to come thick and fast. Experts have predicted that we'll spend a total of £33 billion this year, which easily trumps last year's festive expenses.

Payment Protection Insurance comes in for a lot of criticism and is often accused of being expensive and unnecessary. Many consumers don't understand how this insurance protects them or where it fits in to the cost of the financial product they are using.

Think of "Trust funds" and most of us picture a wealthy young American who spends summer in the Hamptons and winter skiing in Aspen. However the Ivanka Trumps and Paris Hiltons of this world aren't the only ones sitting on a nest egg these days.

The coming months are traditionally a quiet time for the housing market, and this year will doubtless be no exception as mortgage lenders have let their application fees skyrocket over the last few months.

Getting yourself out of a £25 billion hole can't be easy, but as the Chancellor worries about whether he is going to have to balance the books following the government's emergency loan to Northern Rock, many of us may be left scratching our heads at the somewhat smaller financial task of trying to work out which credit card to get next and asking ourselves what we should do with our existing debt.

The number of zero per cent balance transfer deals on the market has risen by 13 per cent in the past year as firms increasingly target credit card borrowers trying to get their debts under control, analysis from MoneyExpert.com shows.

They may front one of the BBC’s flagship shows but the stars of Eastenders have been told that they will have to dig deep into their own pockets if they want their partners to attend this year’s Christmas party.

Striking out on your own and taking the decision to become self employed is a difficult choice but it can be a rewarding one. Some of the nation’s most recognisable and successful faces, people such as Alistair Campbell, Mario Testino and Derren Brown have all taken this step and made a name for themselves